Tag Archives: food

Spanish cuisine is so much more than tapas – and not being a foodie, I have to admit, I was adamant about not liking this form of eating. Maybe because no matter how much I love Spain, the only tapas I had prior to this was the Swedish kind, and that is… well… basically boring leftovers.

But when in Madrid, you have to try tapas. And thanks to my friend Linn, who accompanied me on this trip, I am now a fully fledged tapas-conenseur.

For tapas, I recommend following establishment

Hontanares

Type: Restaurant, TapasLocation: Calle de Sevilla 6

I really enjoyed this place – so much, that when Linn dragged me over a second time, I didn’t mind one bit. The tapas here are really quite good – you get 3 plates for €12, and it’s more than enough for two people to share. Plus, olives in garlic are always at the table, so you will fill up on those too.

Sangría for €4 per person, one of the cheaper ones in Madrid, is really good and fresh. You will feel refreshed and not one bit sticky, which sometimes is a problem that accompany sweetened wine drinks.

They also offer “Menu de día” with appetizer, entrée and dessert for €12. I fullheartedly recommend their gazpacho! If you are a sweet tooth, they have an abundance of cookies and cakes – the tarta de queso, with fresh berries, is a winner! Not a big fan of their churros, even though my company at that time disagreed and chowed down the plate.

Small outdoor seating by a busy street, but it’s a quiet and nice place to eat. Larger indoors. Opening hours till late every night!

Vips is a chain. That doesn’t mean tired food, tired ambiance, tired waitresses. On the contrary, VIPS on calle Alcala 23, close to Metro Sevilla station, is a fresh, very popular breakfast place, with quick service, friendly staff and excellent, LARGE portions food.

From full English or full American, to french toast croissant with caramel sauce and fresh berries, freshly squeezed orange juice and excellent, hot and strong coffee, this is the best place for a hearty breakfast before exploring the city. Prices are moderate – €4 – €8, depending on what you feel like having. Worth a stop!

Beware, this place is popular and in the mornings, quite packed with locals! But, the C/Alcala 23 is a two-story building with outdoor seating, so I’m sure you’ll find somewhere to park your hiney!

Best sangría in town, hands down! Found this tiny place on a very hot day when my friend was really hungry, while I was just… well, in the mood for something wet. I had the beer. BIG mistake – next time I came by, I definitely ordered the sangría. It’s much more expensive than for instance Hontanares (about €9 per copa/large glass), but really, really good. Slightly too sweet, if I have to complain – but it’s a refreshing drink loaded with fresh fruits, perfect for a hot summer day.

Outdoor seating in full blasting sunshine (they have marquees, but being sun-starved, I demanded they stay rolled up) and perfect view over the small town square, with brick-a-brack market. Grab a drink and watch Madrid life slowly pass you by.

Tapas – a large variation of hot and cold dishes – are large and more than enough for two to share. For €12 you get tree plates, you mix at your hearts desire. Highly recommended!

This is my favorite place to eat in Madrid so far. I stumbled into this place, seemingly a hole-in-the-wall, but as you enter, a very nice restaurant – completely by accident. It was late, we were both deadbeat tired and in such cravings to dig our teeth into a dead animal, we would have gladly ran after a dog, had one come by.

Thankfully, instead of chasing local pets, we entered La Puebla. It looked closed. It was completely empty. We risked it. Best risk I’ve taken so far!

The staff doesn’t speak much English, but God are they helpful – they dragged out the chef from the kitchen to explain to us what it is we wanted to eat. Smiles and friendly service all around – and not the fake kind, they were genuinely happy to see us.

The restaurant soon filled, only with locals. Mostly an older clientelle. Apparently, this is a place frequented mostly by regulars. Best kept secret – three course dinner for either €11,50 or €13 (different variations), excellent quality food and VERY large portions.

I can truly recommend the Castelan soup and the escalopes. For dessert, anything with chocolate looks good. I had the flan, which was very good, but companion at the table drooled senseless over what the other table had.

Quick service, excellent food, very good prices – and God, you feel like you are part of the family! I LOVED it here!

I ate here twice – not only because the food is excellent and service exceptional (very cute waiters, might I add), but because the second time, nothing else seemed to be open (it was Easter Sunday).

Image (c) Achim’s Beck’shaus

Achim’s Beck’shaus is small – seats about 50 people indoors – and offer an outdoor seating, unfortunately in the immediate vicinity of an underground parking lot exit. As it’s a sports bar, the Bundesliga is on TV 24/7, but it’s rather calm and quiet here.

The atmosphere is cosy – dark furniture and walls, very little room to move around (once again – cosy), small tables seating max four.

Image (c) Achim’s Beck’shaus

The food is excellent. I had Jägerschnitzel the first time, and the Beck’shaus Pfanne the second time around – both very hearty, enormous portions to very fair prices. And when I say enormous, trust me – the Beck’shaus Pfanne comes in a frying pan, and consists of fried potatoes, 3 pork medallions, onions, mushrooms and sauce. It takes forever to consume this amount of food – and those that know me, know I’m not big on eating, so large portions scare the living bejeez out of me – but I can proudly say I sat and ate untill the frying pan was completely empty! My stomach hurt afterward. But it was worth it. This food is SO good!

My first night, after a long walk all over Bremen, I ended up at the Böttcherstrasse. I can’t say I was all that hungry, but figured it was time for dinner (it was 19:00/7pm, which should tell you a little something about my sans-food endurance), so I started looking for a place to eat.

Flett is the only restaurant available at the Böttcherstrasse, but it’s by no means a cop-out. This restaurant, even though the decor might scare less well-traveled visitors, is a must-experience in Bremen!

Even though it’s located in one of the most touristic parts of Bremen, is a hangout for locals. I only heard German during my visit, and it was actually quite difficult to get a waitress that spoke English. But between my broken German and their broken English, we managed to get me seated (in a very full restaurant!), and order in food.

I had the Stäv Teller, a hearty plate of mixed meats – veal, chicken and pork medallions – with fried potatoes and mixed vegetables. Another very large portion of excellent, hearty food.

The decor is… well… interesting. But that’s a rather PC way of summing it up. As someone that’s not all that familiar with German politic and culture pre-, and post wars, I wasn’t sure where to look. Luckily, I found another guest to stare at. The walls are littered by b/w photographs from what seems to be pre- and during-war times of people you won’t recognize unless you have a relation to Bremen.

The restaurant takes about 100-150 guests and offers also booking for large parties in the annexed room. Definitely worth a try if you are starving in the area of the Böttcherstrasse. If you’re just peckish, take the five-minute walk over to Achim’s Beck’shaus, and enjoy (equally) excellent food in a more at ease atmosphere.

Coffee-Art-House Allegretto

Type: Coffee houseLocation:Knochenhauerstraße 5, Bremen

Is it PC to say you love a place where you didn’t tip?

I have a soft spot for small, quaint and charming cafés with outdoor seating and homemade pastry (even if I don’t usually eat sugar). Allegretto surprised me with four menu’s – one for coffee art, one for hot cocoa art, one for tea art and one for things I don’t even recall! Imagine pages up and pages down of amazing, tempting, hot coffee with whatever imaginable in the world – that’s caffeinated paradise!

I stopped for a quick recafination and ended up staying for over an hour. It was warm in the sun outside, the coffee was good and the cake was really nice too! I had the Cappuccino Créme Brülee and a Käsekuche (I’m a huge fan of Polish cheesecake called Sernik and I try to find the equivalent all over the world – sadly, only Sernik at a small café in Kraków, Poland measures up).

Indoors, the decor is homey and warm. Outdoors, it’s a cosy small seating offering a perfect view of a lazy city street, close enough to city center to have pedestrian traffic, but far enough to be calm and quiet.

Cappucino Créme Brülée – €4,90
Käsekuche – €3,50

Disclaimer: I tried to tip the waitress €5, but she kept trying to break it down in change and give it back to me, so I finally gave up, took the fiver and left. Honestly I felt bad, but sometimes, the language barrier gets the best of me…

Some people treat breakfast places as the place to have breakfast. I turn the day/night thing around, and frequent these venues mostly at night. My visit here was post-walking around Bremen for past three hours, shooting photos of everything that didn’t move, and need to say, I was in for a Bier. So, needless to say, I have no idea how their breakfast is – but the outdoor seating is large and with a nice view of the cathedral and the back of the city hall. Large interior, rather modern. Outdoor seating cosy, under a huge “umbrella” structure. Nice view, worth a sitdown after sightseeing in Bremen!

SSP Deutschland GmbH

Type: bakeryLocation: Bremen Hauptbahnhof, Bremen

I needed provisions for my bus ride home and as I didn’t find any sandwich places, I decided to get something from the local bakery Kamps Bahnhof, which I had spotted during my raid for Elnette Hairspray at Rossmann Hauptbahhof.

It was close to my hotel, it smelled divine and the prices were to kill for. So I shopped. I usually don’t frequent bakeries, but this one made me reconsider my no-sugar policy. I had four home-made pastries to go, which lasted me all through the travel back home, as they were quite large and very tasty!

I can recommend the Apfelfransbroe (with apples – “broe” is commonly used for pasty) for € 1,49, the Franzvroetchen, the Streuseltaler and the Mohnplunder, all for €1,79 each. Some extremely sweet, others airy, others quite solid. For those that prefer spicy over sweet, I’d recommend their Pizzabroe! Travels well!